Four takeaways from Millwall’s 3-2 win over Coventry: A stunning comeback but more poor defending from the Lions

Millwall produced a stunning comeback to claim all three points against Coventry City at The Den on Saturday afternoon.

It was looking bleak for Londoners as they found themselves 2-0 down thanks to goals from Kyle McFazdean and Matt Godden inside the opening half hour. Gary Rowett’s men fought back to 2-2 before the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Gustavo Hamer was given his marching orders after receiving a second booking for a foul on Tyler Burey.

George Saville then found the winner for the Lions, who secured their second home win of the campaign.

Here are Alex Grace’s takeaways from the contest.

A STUNNING COMEBACK

Scarce is it that Millwall come from 2-0 down to win a game. It’s been five and half years since they last did so. The Lions found themselves 2-0 down at Bury after 70 minutes, but goals from Shaun Williams, Callum Butcher and Aiden O’Brien sealed a dramatic comeback victory on that day in November 2016.

In truth, after 20 minutes of Saturday’s game, it felt that if more goals were to come, they would be coming for Coventry. At 2-0 down in the blistering heat, it would have been straightforward for Millwall to sit off and accept defeat, but they did just the opposite. Despite not getting a lot of joy, the Lions stuck to their own game and got their bit of luck, thanks to Sky Blues goalkeeper Simon Moore. A rush of blood to the head from Moore was the catalyst for Millwall’s comeback. His error allowed Jake Cooper’s header to end up in the back of the net and ignite the home support.

Taking their chances is something they will have to do if they are to be serious contenders in the play-off mix and take the chances they did on this occasion. This was also the first time Millwall had come from two goals behind to win a league game at The Den. Another piece of history made.

 

MORE POOR DEFENDING

Poor defending is not something that we usually associate Millwall with. Rowett has now had 128 games in charge of the club, and the Lions have kept 45 clean sheets. The goals conceded against Coventry are a concern. They were polar opposites to those conceded at Bramall Lane last weekend. Those were individual errors. This was a team error.

No-one picked up McFadzean, and the whole set-up from that set-piece was wrong from the Lions. Even when they got back to 2-2, it was only the crossbar that prevented Mark Robins’ side from restoring their lead.

Lewis Travis and Matt Godden were given the freedom of SE16 to create and execute the second goal – if Millwall do that at either Swansea or Norwich they may just be punished.

The two games this week will demand a lot better from their defence.

HONEYMAN ANSWERS SOME CRITICS

There was a lot of finger-pointing aimed at George Honeyman from sections of the fanbase after the 1-0 defeat at Cambridge in the EFL Cup. The defeat saw the Lions head out of the competition at the first round stage, but also, the red card picked up by the former Hull captain was a real blow for his team heading up to Sheffield United, where his presence in the midfield was missed.

However, he can now put all that behind him. He responded perfectly on Saturday. He kept his head down, and he delivered for his team. The perfect moment was when Tyler Burey’s shot came back off the post and fell to Honeyman, who was in the right place at the right time to slot home that all-important equalising goal.

Playing in that advanced role will require him to keep getting into those positions, and hopefully, the results will bear fruit for the Lions, who have been so short on goals in recent seasons.

TIME TO REPEAT HOME FORM AWAY FROM SE16

Millwall’s home form is excellent. It’s now eight wins in their last 10 home games. One draw and one defeat in that time has undoubtedly seen The Den return to being that fortress that we have always associated it with being. The test is now recreating that level of performance and intensity away from SE16.

Swansea and Norwich are the two games that Millwall face this week. Despite it being these two sides, they pose a great chance for the Lions to secure their first away win of the season. Swansea have had a difficult period at home in recent months. They’ve won just one of their last eight at home and started their home campaign this time with a 3-0 defeat to Blackburn despite having nearly 70 per cent possession.

Norwich are also feeling the pressure. Expectations are high at Carrow Road after relegation, but they will start the week bottom of the league, and should they fail to win in midweek, you feel the atmosphere that could greet them on Friday could fall into Millwall’s favour.